Anti-thumb-sucking device



Margh 3, 1931. DAVIS 1,794,515

ANTI- THUMB- SUCKING DEVICE Filed Jan. 18, 1930 palm of the hand.

Patented Mar. 3, 1931 the infant cannot release his thumb from the confinement of the device. Another object is to provide a device which will be positive in its action, preventing the infant obtaining suction against any portion of the thumb.

. A further object is to provide a device which, in addition to accomplishing all of the foregoing objects, will be perfectly safe and will not injure the mouth of the infant in any manner.

VVit-h these and invention consists in the construction, ar' rangem'ent and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig.

the hand of an infant, looking toward the Fig. 2 is a similar View looking toward the side of the hand.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the device and the device is made 7 g The primary ob ect of devlces of tlns character is to prevent the mfant obtaining suction against his thumb. The usual method is c J impulse is i-veryingeniou's in working his other Qb]GCt-S 111 view, my

1 is a view of the device installed on Fig.4: is a plan View of a blank from which giaeianfn msvck we Davies 1 j tive providing of air un'der all circumstances orstated i-nanothe'r manner, theelfective p're-- ve'nti'on of the; obtamimng' of suction.

Anioi'igthosedevices which have been provid'ed foe-this purpose; many of them are fit device whie'his *safek but' along with this o'L- jest, it is "desirable to provide a device which can bemexpenslvelymade.

'Probablyfithe mostcl'fiifcult problem conten'ded- :witlr in devliceso'f this character is that "ofv insuring ithat'the Idevic'e remain onwthe thumb-of. the infant An 'ili fant s thumb-isveryiflexible;-isinclined-to be fat and soft rather than thin and bony and the ordinaryi infant Ea normal amount of "active thumb: loose from the confinement of a device of this character. I "T By bending the tip'of the thin-rib toward 1 the palm of the hand; the -infant 'canmove theytipin a 'directron circumferential "of-a point locatedin the mist. 'llhe wrist proves to he the .only" Zpraetical place -for ia'ttach ment of these'curing means andgthus the problem of securing ofthe device becomes rather complex." 1 It war he rem emheredg' of ce'nrs'e, that it is desirable toprovide attach! means whichcan be attached in a very simple manner. 1 i

My' inVention in this respect has solved the problem "to such an extent t hatth e at- 1 tachment is made 'by the simple process of ertending the cord'aro'und the wrist of-tlie infant and securing the ends together in one spot; Turning now tothe drawings, the device -coniprises 'atube' 10', adapted receive substantially the full len'gth'of the thumb of an infant. The t e-is perforated asat'll so that "air from within the tube may enter.

the mouth of an infant;, A band 12" is provided extending from one side 'to the other of the tube and projecting away from the end'thaereof, said end being-open as at 13. Tli e 'ohject of the band12is to prevent the i'i ifant from closing the mouth of the tube with hisit'ongu-e. It will be understood that i by closing the mouth of the tube with his tongue and simultaneously closing the first row of openings with his lips, that the infant might still obtain suction against his thumb when the device is in place.

One side of the tube 10 is continued to form a projecting arm 14, curved'so as to fit that portion of the hand which forms a continuation of the thumb. Openings 15 are provided in the end corners of the arm 14 and a wrist cord 16 is passed through the openings so as to provide two projecting cord portions adapted to be extended around the wrist 17 of the infant and tied together.

An opening 18 is provided in the sleeve 10 near the end opposite the band 12 and diametrically opposed to the arm 14. A cord 19 is securedto the sleeve being threaded through theopening 18 and is provided with a loop 20 which receives the wrist cord 16.

The arm 14 being secured to the wrist by the cord 16 prevents the infant from removcontour of the back of the thumb portion of the infants hand, said projection being relatively Wide, solid, and flat at its end, a flexible element secured to the end of the projection at two points positioned respectively near the opposite edges thereof and adapted to encircle the wrist of the infant, and a tie element secured to the cylindrical portion substantially diametrically opposite the projection, adapted to extend from the base of the thumb on the palm side thereof and to be secured to the flexible element on the palm side of the hand.

Signed this 11th day of January, 1930, in the county of Woodbury and State of Iowa.

JOHN I-LDAVIS.

ing his thumb by bending the tip toward the palm. The cord 19 prevents the infant from removingthe thumb in the opposite direction. In this connection, I have discovered that an infant can remove its thumb by exerting pressure against the tube 10, tending to pull the tube toward thetip' of the thumb and away from the forefinger of the hand,

the thumb flexing inwardly until it' will finally pass the 'inner extremity of the tube 10. I

Y The cord 19 prevents removal of the thumb in this way, holding the tube so as to limit the possible movement of the tube toward the tip of the thumb.

Both the arm'14 andcord 19 cooperate to retain the device on the infants thumb.

Without the arm 14, the cord 19 would'be of little value and without the cord 19, the

arm 14 would not be efficient in retaining the device on the infants thumb.

The blank for making the device is shown in Fig. 4, the band 12 being formed integrally at one end with the portion which forms the tube 10 and at its other end being welded to the tube 10 during the formation of the device. The edges 21 of the body of the blank are butt welded together or soldered to form the cylindrical tube portion 10.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my invention without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claim any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope. I claim asmy invention:

, An anti-thumb sucking device for infants comprising acylindrical portion adapted to receive the infants thumb, a projection aligned with one side of the cylindrical por tion, adapted to lie against and to fit the 

